This is the core set of metadata for UK theses which was developed to ensure all theses are described in a clear and consistent way, allowing users to find the theses they seek and institutions to share the data between repositories where required.

Institutions are encouraged to include as many elements as possible, and EThOS will harvest all elements. Those marked optional will contribute to producing comprehensive metadata and better information for users of EThOS and other repositories, whilst those marked mandatory are the essential fields that should be completed if at all possible. If these are missing, the performance of EThOS could be affected.

The uketd_dc application profile consists of:

standard DC elements and recommended qualifiers

uketd_dc ‘namespace’ (domain specific) extensions – ‘uketdterms’

Use key:

M = Mandatory
A = Mandatory if applicable
O = Optional

More information about the data elements is available here.
And a PDF version of the EThOS uketd_dc Application Profile is available to download here.

Element

Guidance notes

Use

Thesis identifier

A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for the thesis (https://www.doi.org/). If there are multiple versions (e.g. full and redacted), provide DOIs for all versions where available.

A

Title

Full title, including any subtitle(s). Separate the main title from any subtitle(s) with space colon space ( : ). Use sentence casing (Do not use ALL CAPS). Do not add a full-stop to the end of the title.

M

Alternative Title

Other titles for the work, e.g. title in another language. Use sentence casing. Do not add a full-stop to the end of the alternative title

O

Language

xsi:type="dcterms:ISO639-2">

3 digit ISO639-2 language code for the main language of the work (https://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_list.php)

M

Author

Name of the author of the work, in inverted form. Separate the surname from the forenames or initials with a 'comma space'; separate initials with a space and include a full stop after each initial (e.g. Smith, Andrew J. M.). Do not add a full stop to the end of the name unless the final element is an initial.

M

Person identifier

xsi:type="uketdterms:ORCID">

An ORCID identifier for the author (https://orcid.org/register). Enter as 16 digits (no spaces or dashes). Identifiers for supervisors and/or advisors may also be included (see below).

A (author) O (supervisor)

Supervisor(s)/Advisor(s)

The name of any supervisor(s) and/or advisor(s) in inverted form (i.e. surname, forenames/initials) - see guidance for 'Author' above. If there are multiple supervisors, enter each name in separate, repeated elements, or enter all names in a single field separated by 'space semi-colon space' ( ; ). Identifiers (ORCIDs) for supervisors should appear in the same order as the names in separate instances of the 'Person identifier' tag (see above).

A

Institution name

Name of the institution from which the thesis emanates (usually the awarding institution)

M

Awarding Institution

Name of the awarding body for the thesis if different from the 'Institution Name' (e.g. where one institution awards theses on behalf of another, or where the institution was known by a different name at the time of award)

A

Year of Award

The year the thesis was awarded

M

Department

Name of the University Department where the research was undertaken

O

Abstract

Brief summary of the thesis

O

Subject keywords

Important keywords to aid retrieval

O

Dewey Decimal Classification

“dcterms:DDC”>

Dewey subjet classification (if available)

O

Type

Use the standard phrase "Thesis or dissertation"

M

Qualification level

For example, "Doctoral" or "Masters"

M

Qualification name

Specific name for the thesis in abbreviated form, e.g. Ph.D, M.Phil., D.Clin.Psy.

Name(s) of any organisations funding the research, in whole or in part. List multiple funders in separate, repeated fields or in a single field, separated by 'space semi-colon space' ( ; )

A

Project/Grant number(s)

Grant/Project number allocated by the funding body. If there are multiple funding institutions, list the grant numbers in the same order as the names of the funders

O

Institutional Repository URL

Persistent URL for the 'landing page' (record/metadata) for the thesis in an Institutional Repository

A

URL for the digital object(s)

xsi:type="dcterms:URI">

URL linking directly to the thesis work (PDF, music file, video, etc.). If there are multiple 'works' give each URL in a separate, repeated instance of the field. This field is mandatory if the content is to be ingested into the EThOS repository

A

Note:All elements are repeatable. If multiple terms need to be included, repeat the element where possible rather than including multiple terms in a single element (e.g. if there are multiple funders of the research, include the name of each funder in a separate <uketdterms:sponsor> element).

EThOS OAI uketd_dc XML schema

In order to use uketd_dc for OAI harvesting – and other methods of metadata transfer – it is necessary to implement it using an XML schema that defines the uketd_dc records format. The schema we have developed conforms to the Guidelines for implementing Dublin Core in XML (http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/dcmi/dc-xml-guidelines/). It provides a qualified DC application, supporting all DCMI terms and the following EThOS additions:

o Sets the container element to 'uketd_dc:uketddc'
o Adds the following elements: